Verdict: Phenomenon
"K" Rating: 4.5
"SRK" Rating: 5/5
Watch: Theater
Ladies and Gentleman, more importantly boys and girls - get ready for the neo-age Ra.One to lightup the theater near you and do a dhamaka at the box office this Diwali. An apt story of restoring the reign of good over evil in a world where we fight mythical demons mostly in video games on our PS3 & Wiis.
Ra.One has set a new standard for Hindi Cinema. It is a visual treat for the audience in terms of the VFX and action sequences which are of International standards. Ra.One is a sci-fi movie which creates a new Indian superhero - G.ONE [ the Good One or Jeevan]. What works for the film is that camouflaged in the western look it is a very Indian film. The core emotions and feel is very Bollywood minus the so called "dancing around trees".
Ensemble cast of the film befits the characters very well - Kareena Kapoor looks stunning as the Chammak challo and portrays a gamut of emotions exceptionally well. Arjun Rampal as Ra.One [Raavan] looks the part with his shaven head, cape and ripped body adorned with tattoos. Armaan as the geek school boy obsessed with video games is great.Shahrukh Khan has never looked better than in the G.One Superhero avatar. It is not the run of the mill SRK romantic movie one might expect, after MNIK [My Name Is Khan] this is yet another feather in his cap.
Storyline is essentially a father-son story with a tight screenplay. The plot revolves around a stereotypical south Indian geek dad who wants to make friends and be a hero for his Brit-Indian adolescent gamer son. Trying to achieve this, he designs a video game which is when all hell brakes loose.
First 10 minutes of the movie might bewilder the movie goers as one is inside a video game [ likes of Lord of the Rings & World of War Craft] but fortunately for the audience the characters come out in our world. The first hour of the movie builds the base but tends to be slow, satirical but picks up pace soon enough.The movie spoofs on all - Bruce Lee, Michael Jackson, Kalnayak, Robot, SRK's own dialogues and ofcourse the stereotypical South Indians.
Music by Vishal-Shekhar is fantastic - collaboration with International singer like Akon has add a distinct flavour to Chammak Challo [ 5 versions in the album] and Criminal - which are a hit already. Soulful numbers like Dildara prove to be savory. There are couple of instrumental numbers which form the theme of Ra.One - one which stands out is composed/conducted by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
All in all, Ra.One is sci-fi family adventure flick which will entertain the younger audience to the hilt. Kudos to Red Chillies and SRK for bringing a Hollywood like Superhero to Indian screen with the right amount of desi tadka.
